


ASentenceWithoutSpaces

by yuubalu



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Bad Puns, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-29
Updated: 2014-07-29
Packaged: 2018-02-10 23:49:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2044830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuubalu/pseuds/yuubalu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Davide brings out a whole new line of jokes, and Bane-san has to wonder if there's a meaning behind them. Puns galore!</p>
            </blockquote>





	ASentenceWithoutSpaces

**1)**   
Kurobane huffed as his phone vibrated in the pocket of his jacket. He continued jogging at full speed until he rounded the bend in the road, before slowing down a little in order to read the new message waiting in his inbox. There was no subject, but Kurobane was already sighing the moment he saw the name of the sender: Amane Hikaru.

_Me without you is like a nerd without braces, a shoe without laces, asentencewithoutspaces. （*´▽｀*）_

It took him all of ten seconds to read the message and delete it, slipping his phone back into his pocket and adjusting his backpack before continuing his morning jog to school. Less than a minute later, the buzz of another message followed.

_Bane-saaaaaan~ (づ￣ ³￣)づ Am I still waiting for you outside school this morning?_

Yet again, Kurobane shoved the phone back into his pocket, picking up his pace once more. A quick glance at his watch told him he was already 5 minutes behind schedule. At this rate, he wouldn't have time to shower off all the sweat before classes. A third buzz of his phone went completely ignored.

_I'll wait anyway ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆_

**2)**  
Kurobane rounded the corner of the road leading to Rokkaku Chuugako, pausing briefly to stretch before he slowed his jog to a fast power walk. He passed a few other students, winking at a handful of girls who waved back with a giggle, before stopping outside the school gates for one last stretch. A quick glance at the courtyard outside the school building revealed no sign of red hair, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Only to have the wind knocked out of him as a lanky body jumped on his back, crushing his backpack a little.

"Yo~ I'm a thief and I'm here to steal your heart."

Fist met face pretty quickly, Davide letting go of him with a grunt in favour of rubbing his nose. Kurobane didn't even look back as he headed for the showers in the clubhouse. He didn't have time to worry about his team mate; besides, Davide was made of strong stuff. There was a shuffle as the redhead stood up, grabbing his fallen bag, and Kurobane could even picture the stupid grin on Davide's face as he called after him.

"Morning to you too, Bane-san!"

**3)**  
"Man, you worked us hard today, Kentarou!"

Kurobane grinned, rubbing his face with a towel to dry off the sweat, as Kentarou grinned back.

"Of course! If we don't practice hard, we'll never catch up with Seigaku. And then I'll never get to go on a date with a cute girl!"

Saeki laughed, jogging up behind their captain and rubbing his head.

"You're cute enough that you'll never have to worry about that, Kentarou. But you're right. We should practice equally hard tomorrow, guys!"

There was a half-assed cheer from the rest of the tennis club, the members taking that as their cue to end practice. Kurobane sighed, throwing his towel aside in favour of his racket, which he'd let drop to the floor by his feet. As he bent to pick it up, he caught sight of white sneakers and long, pale legs, and fixed Davide with a pointed stare and a raised eyebrow as he straightened up again.

Almost comically, like he'd planned it but had gotten the timing wrong, Davide dropped the bottle of water he was holding. Instead of picking it up again, he grinned, and it was all Kurobane could do to keep himself from rolling his eyes in advance of whatever his friend was going to say.

"Hey, Bane-san. You owe me a drink." The eye-rolling was involuntary. "Because when I looked at you, I dropped mine."

Kurobane scoffed, turning on his heel and heading for the changing rooms. Davide raced to keep up with him, chatting at him the whole time, only stopping when he actually started to get changed.

Kurobane used the relative silence to change quickly, rummaging in his bag while his team mate was occupied with trying to escape the tangle that had become of his top. Once Davide had finally wrestled himself free, Kurobane threw a handful of coins at him, which the redhead caught awkwardly.

"There. For your water."

Davide looked confused for a few seconds, enough time for Kurobane to grab his bag and start leaving.

"Wha- Bane-san! I didn't mean it. Have your money back!"

**4)**  
Winter came early, and colder than expected. Kurobane clutched the stitch in his side as he watched Saeki pile hats on Kentarou's head, Itsuki providing more and more woollen monstrosities. The team as a whole lost it when Kisarazu actually volunteered his cap as the crowning glory on the hat masterpiece.

When they finally regained enough composure to continue getting changed, Kurobane spared a glance at the bench beside him. Davide had been oddly quiet, looking more thoughtful than he usually did.

"Oi, Davide." The redhead glanced up so quickly that Kurobane was briefly concerned for his spine. "Don't think so hard or you'll hurt yourself."

Davide pulled a face and Kurobane grinned, glad to know that there was nothing actually wrong with his friend. He continued to get dressed, grabbing his socks from his bag and rolling them the right way round. He really needed to learn how to take them off without them turning inside-out.

"Hey, Bane-san."

Davide sounded so desperate to say something that Kurobane involuntarily nodded at him to continue.

"I wanna live in your socks so I can be with you every step of the way."

Further down the bench, Kisarazu snorted, pulling his cap down further to hide his budding smile. Kurobane sighed, willing himself not to laugh.

"You really don't want that, Davide. These kinda stink."

Davide ignored him in favour of continuing.

"Do your legs hurt from running through my dreams all night?"

"No, but my fists do, because in my dreams I was punching you all night."

Kisarazu excused himself, grabbing his coat and bag and chasing after Saeki and Itsuki, desperately fighting back laughter. Kentarou was on the other side of the changing room, still removing the mountain of hats. Kurobane grabbed his own coat, throwing the other nearby coat at the redhead, who grinned cheekily at him as he finished buttoning up his shirt.

"It's cold outside. Want to use me as a coat?"

This time, Kurobane laughed a little, reaching out to briefly ruffle his friend's hair. "Come on, Davide, let's go. That arcade won't keep waiting for us all night."

Davide made a sound of agreement that was somewhat muffled by the scarf he'd wrapped around his neck, and the two of them called out goodbyes to their captain before heading out. Kurobane shivered a little as the wind hit them; Davide was right, it was cold outside.

"Ne, Bane-san?" Davide's voice was still a little muffled, but Kurobane could hear him clearly enough. "If you were a booger I'd pick you first."

Kurobane felt entirely justified about elbowing the redhead in the ribs.

**5)**  
"Harukaze? Be sure to help Hikaru-kun this time instead of just watching films all night."

Kurobane rolled his eyes, glad that his mother couldn't see him from downstairs, whilst Davide snickered into his apple juice. "Of course I will, okaasan. That's why it's a study sleepover."

"Whatever you say, Haru." Kurobane cringed at the nickname, Davide wiggling his eyebrows at his friend's embarrassment. "I'll be up later with some cookies for you boys."

Davide whooped quietly, stretching out on Kurobane's bed before making grabby hands in his general direction. Kurobane briefly considered jumping on the bed too, but instead settled on throwing the nearest book at him, amused when his team mate merely opened it and began to read.

"Do you actually plan on studying, Davide?"

The redhead paused and glanced up at him. "That's what we're here for, right Bane-san?"

"Well, yeah, but. It would help if your book wasn't upside down."

Davide blushed, flipping the book the right way round before continuing. For at least half an hour, the only sounds in Kurobane's room were the sounds of pencil on paper and the occasional turning of a page. Kurobane was actually rather impressed that Davide managed to stay quiet for so long, but of course it didn't last.

"Hey, Bane-san?" The redhead questioned, sounding oddly serious. "What would you do if someone confessed to you?"

Kurobane scratched his chin with the end of his pencil. "Hmm. Well, if she was a cute girl, I'd give her a winning smile and say thanks, but I'm just not interested right now."

Davide was silent for a while, and Kurobane took that as a sign their conversation was over. A few minutes later, however, the redhead spoke up again.

"What if a guy confessed to you?"

Kurobane sat up, no longer comfortable with laying on the floor. Davide still had that oddly serious look on his face, so Kurobane decided to answer him honestly, wondering exactly where his friend was going with this line of questioning. "I'd say the same thing; I'd say thanks, I'm flattered, but you're just not the one for me."

Davide seemed satisfied with that answer, because he began scribbling away with his pencil again. Kurobane, however, didn't move, instead observing the redhead lounging on his bed. Did this have something to do with those terrible pick-up lines Davide had been using for a while now? At first, Kurobane had merely considered them to be a new line of jokes in the redhead's repertoire, but perhaps that wasn't it. Maybe they meant something else.

Kurobane couldn't deny that his first thought was more than a little exciting, but surely Davide wasn't... He shook his head, deciding the best course of action would be to wait for Davide to bring the topic up again. Sure enough, a few minutes later, Davide continued, his voice a lot quieter than before.

"I know somebody who likes you, but if I weren't so shy, I'd tell you who."

"Davide..." The redhead seemed like he was purposefully avoiding his gaze, almost like he was embarrassed. Everything seemed to click into place suddenly as Kurobane stared up at his best friend. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off as Davide put down his pencil and sat upright, swinging his long legs over the edge of the bed.

"If you were a chicken, you'd be impeccable."

"Davide. Stop."

"My love for you is like diarrhea, I just can't hold it in!"

"Hikaru!"

Davide stopped abruptly, shocked at Kurobane's use of his first name.

"... Bane-san?"

Kurobane continued to stare at him for a long moment, trying gauge his team mate's mood.

"What exactly are you trying to say to me, Davide?"

This time, Davide frowned a little, dropping his gaze to stare at the floor.

"Is it really not obvious, Bane-san?" He said after a while. Kurobane frowned too, but said nothing. It _was_ obvious, but he wanted to hear it directly, without all the stupid puns. Davide sighed uncharacteristically, running a hand through his hair and briefly getting tangled. "Well, I guess I have no choice but to use the line I'd been saving for last."

Kurobane grimaced. "You really don't have to."

Davide ignored him in favour of giving him a small smile that Kurobane was hard-pressed not to return instinctively.

"If I were to ask you out on a date, would your answer be the same as the answer to this question?"

Several long moments of silence passed as Kurobane processed the question. When he'd finished, he couldn't help but chuckle briefly. It wasn't a pun, but it was still pretty funny. Davide looked at him hopefully, and he couldn't resist making fun of him a little.

"No." He responded finally, only for the redhead's brow to crease, his face crestfallen. A few moments later, he looked up again, and this time Kurobane noticed a spark of hope behind the confused contemplation.

"... ... wait... is that a no to the date or...?" Davide looked so adorable and vulnerable that Kurobane couldn't deny him any longer. Denying himself was completely out of the question this far along the line.

"No. I mean, yes. I mean, yeah, I'll go on a date with you." Kurobane blushed but it went unnoticed as Davide dived off the bed and landed on him in a close approximation to a hug. Kurobane huffed out a laugh as he extracted himself from the redhead's long limbs enough to return the hug, one ear ringing as Davide laughed loudly without regards for his hearing. When they parted, the redhead's grin was infectious, and Kurobane forgave himself for continuing to blush like a school girl.

"One last question, Bane-san."

Kurobane rolled his eyes playfully, thoroughly aware that Davide looked a lot like the cat who just got the cream. "Go on then. Shoot."

"Kiss me if I'm wrong, but dinosaurs still exist, right?"


End file.
